Packaging
Ask whether an image pipeline is delivering value or ceremony.
Portable WebAssembly can preserve a compiled artifact without turning image construction and distribution into a delivery prerequisite.
Source → componentEngineering leader’s guide
The container solved packaging. It does not have to remain the unit of operation.
A practical framework for deciding where container infrastructure still earns its complexity—and where fresh, workload-shaped execution is the better model.
Evaluate the operating model, not the category label.
Start with what the workload needs from execution, then compare how much infrastructure the team must own to provide it.
Capacity
Separate genuine steady state from infrastructure kept warm by default.
Request-shaped execution makes idle capacity a design choice rather than a platform requirement.
Demand-ledOwnership
Count the systems the team operates before application work begins.
Schedulers, pools, thresholds, patching, and fleet policy all belong in the cost of the operating model.
Full-system viewA clearer path from workload requirements to platform fit.
Use the same sequence for an API, worker, event consumer, or analytical job. The answer can differ; the evaluation discipline should not.
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ShapeDefine the work
Identify request boundaries, duration, state, concurrency, and language requirements.
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BaselineMeasure the current model
Include idle capacity and operational ownership alongside runtime performance.
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MapChoose the execution unit
Decide whether work needs a long-lived environment or a fresh bounded runtime.
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ValidateTest the real path
Compile, start, execute, meter, and observe the representative workload.
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DecideCompare the whole system
Choose on delivery speed, runtime behavior, operating cost, and team focus together.
Keep containers where they help. Move beyond them where they no longer do.
Evaluate Hyjal against a workload you already understand.
Bring the request path, job, or service—and compare the operating models with the Hyjal team.